George Stevens

7.6	Listal rating

Stats

Birth Name: George Cooper Stevens

Born: 18 December 1904 Died: 8 March 1975

Country of origin: United States

Height: 5' 11"

Relationship Status: Married

Partner: Joan McTavish

Lists

89 votes

Directors' Favorite Actors/Actresses (77 items)
list by Stehako

Published 3 years, 7 months ago

15 comments

88 votes

The Idiot's Guide To Famous (Classic) Filmmakers (85 items)
list by Severin Severin

Published 2 months, 1 week ago

14 comments

32 votes

Festival de Cannes - The Jury (627 items)
list by Kankku

Published 1 year, 12 months ago

1 comment

9 votes

Best Film Direction - 1960s (42 items)
list by Stehako

Published 3 years, 2 months ago

2 comments

8 votes

Best Film Direction - 1940s (28 items)
list by Stehako

Published 3 years, 4 months ago

View all George Stevens lists (3 more)

Photos

View all George Stevens pictures (6 more)

About: George Stevens was a noted director whose films included "Shane," "Giant," and "A Place in the Sun." Although he won Academy Awards for "A Place in the Sun" and "Giant," Stevens received world-wide acclaim for his postwar account of the harassment of Jews, "The Diary of Anne Frank," and for his 1965 account of the life of Christ "The Greatest Story Ever Told." The son of actors, Stevens considered George Stevens was a noted director whose films included "Shane," "Giant," and "A Place in the Sun."

Although he won Academy Awards for "A Place in the Sun" and "Giant," Stevens received world-wide acclaim for his postwar account of the harassment of Jews, "The Diary of Anne Frank," and for his 1965 account of the life of Christ "The Greatest Story Ever Told."

The son of actors, Stevens considered the acting competition too great when he moved to Hollywood in 1921. Instead, he became a commercial photographer and film cameraman.

He worked on the Hal Roach Studio's Laurel and Hardy films and in 1933 directed his first feature "The Cohen and Kellys in Trouble."

He subsequently directed for Columbia, RKO, Paramount, MGM, 20th century Fox and his independent Liberty Films Inc. which he formed with producer Samuel Briskin and directors William Wyler and Frank Capra.

During WWII, Stevens joined the U.S. Army Signal Corps as a major in charge of special photographic coverage of invasions tactics. Discharged as a Lt. Col., he served in six major campaigns in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Stevens was with the American unit that liberated prisoners at Hitler's Jewish concentration camp at Dachau. He subsequently won the "survivor's award" from Histadreut, Israel's general federation of labor, for perpetuating the memory of Hitler's six million victims in his film "The Diary of Anne Frank."

The director later said it was at Dachau he decided to film the story of Christ which he did in 1965 as "The Greatest Story Ever Told."

Believing a great director could create the illusion of three dimensions in two and make his audience feel a part of the scene, Stevens scorned movie industry experiment with 3-D in the early 1950s.

He later lost a court battle which gave television the freedom to adapt movies to its own profitable use. the legal battle began in n1966, shown NBC telecast his 1952 film, "A Place in the Sun," interrupted by 33 commercials. The court did not prohibit the showing but said NBC could not tamper with the artistic value of the film.

Stevens maintained his original contract gave him exclusive control over the film's aesthetics which he said would be ruined by interjection of unrelated commercial subjects like body odor, ketchup and toothpaste. But the court refused to hold NBC in contempt saying the commercials did not "emasculate" the films artistry and that changes needed for adapting the film to the new medium could not be considered.

Ultimately Stevens won a token judgment of $1 in his $2 million civil suit, but television got the unquestioned right to commercialize movies. ... (more)

Camera Operator (2), Producer (2), Writer (2), American (2), Director (2), Male (2), Actor (1), Photographer (1), Cinematographer (1), Deceased (1), Born 1904 (1), Died 1975 (1), Icon (1), Oscar Winner (1)

Movies directed by

1. Giant (1956)

Rating:

7.5

294 Watched

2. Shane (1953)

Rating:

7.5

207 Watched

3. A Place in the Sun (1951)

Rating:

7.8

158 Watched

4. The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)

Rating:

6.7

126 Watched

5. Swing Time (1936)

Rating:

7.4

107 Watched

View all George Stevens movies (24 more)

Movies

1. Shane (1953)

Rating:

7.5

207 Watched

2. James Dean: Forever Young (2005)

Rating:

9 want to see

3. Hollywood Without Make-Up (1963)

Rating:

6.8

5 want to see

4. George Stevens: A Filmmaker's Journey (1984)

2 want to see

View all George Stevens movies

Movies written by

1. The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)

Rating:

41 Watched

2. The Nitwits (1935)

Rating:

6.6

5 Watched

3. Quiet Please! (1933)

Rating:

8.5

2 Watched

4. Pick Me Up (1933)

Rating:

1 Watched

5. Grin and Bear It (1933)

Rating:

1 Watched

View all George Stevens movies

TV

1. Lux Video Theatre (1950)

Rating:

1 want to see

2. The 45th Annual Academy Awards (1973)

0 want to see

Updates feed

mutoscope posted a image 4 weeks, 1 day ago

Severin Severin added this to a list 2 months ago

The Idiot's Guide To Famous (Classic) Filmmakers (85 person items)

ToonHead2102 added this to a list 1 year, 2 months ago

GREATEST DIRECTORS OF ALL TIME by vote+!!!... (71 person items)

Kankku added this to a list 1 year, 12 months ago

Festival de Cannes - The Jury (627 person items)

Stehako added this to a list 3 years, 2 months ago

Best Film Direction - 1960s (42 person items)

"#66The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)"

Stehako added this to a list 3 years, 3 months ago

Best Film Direction - 1950s (36 person items)

"#4A Place in the Sun (1951) #38Giant (1956) #61Shane (1953) #82The Diary of Anne Frank (1959)"

Stehako added this to a list 3 years, 4 months ago

Best Film Direction - 1940s (28 person items)

"#32Penny Serenade (1941) #47The Talk of the Town (1942)"

Stehako added this to a list 3 years, 5 months ago

Best Film Direction - 1930s (26 person items)

"#16Gunga Din (1939) #38Vivacious Lady (1938) "

Stehako added this to a list 3 years, 7 months ago

Directors' Favorite Actors/Actresses (77 person items)

"Katherine Hepburn - Alice Adams - Quality Street - Woman of the Year Joan Fontaine - Quality Street - A Damsel in Distress - Gunga Din - Something to Live For Cary Grant - Gunga Din - Penny Serenade - The Talk of the Town Jean Arthur - The Talk of the Town - The More the Merrier - Shane Elizabeth Taylor - A Place in the Sun - Giant - The Only Game in Town Shelley Winters - A Place in the Sun - The Diary of Anne Frank - The Greatest Story Ever Told "